THE Kenanga Wholesale City, which is earmarked for completion by early 2010, is poised to be a landmark hub for Kuala Lumpur's wholesale fashion and apparel business.

The complex, located on a 3.2-acre site in Jalan Kenanga off Jalan Loke Yew, will be the wholesale centre for fashion, costume jewellery and leather products.

“Besides raising the profile of Kuala Lumpur's wholesale business, the complex offers a destination for international buyers to buy the country's fashion products in bulk from local wholesalers,” Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd group chief executive Yee Ia Howe said.

Malaysia's total annual trade in garment and textile totalled some RM2bil. The country also exports over RM4bil worth of designer apparels.

Yee said his management would be working with the Malaysia Garments Wholesale Exports and Import Merchants Association to explore business opportunities in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Kenanga Wholesale City is developed by Central Market Venture Sdn Bhd, which is also managing the Kuala Lumpur Central Market.

The wholesale complex, with total gross floor area of 1.8 million sq ft, will have 790 retail lots of between 300 and 1,000 sq ft.

He said only 49% of the space would be available for sale at RM1,950 to RM3,300 per sq ft, while the remaining 51% would be leased at rental rates between RM10 and RM25 per sq ft.

The project will have an expected gross development value of RM1bil. Construction work will start in March and completion is targeted within two years.

“The complex will meet the dire need for additional retail space in the Kenanga area, which has grown into a wholesale fashion hub in the past 20 years.

Currently, there are 350 business operators in the surrounding three-storey shop lots on about 35 acres.

“We are capitalizing on this demand and we hope to offer a modern and comfortable alternative to the traditional shop lots in the area,” Yee said.

Buyers of the retail space will be offered an attractive leaseback option. Those who lease their lots to the company will be guaranteed an 8% annual rate of return for the first three years with option to extend by another two years.

“We are confident the complex will be fully tenanted as we have a growing list of potential tenants registered with us,” Yee said.

According to him, the company has given up saleable space to ensure there will be enough escalators, service lifts and comfortable walkways.

“We will also bring in necessary service providers such as courier companies, forwarding agents and ATM outlets to make it convenient for business owners.”

The top level of the complex will house convention facilities for events such as trade and fashion shows.

By locating the wholesale complex in the Kenanga area, Yee said the surrounding infrastructure would also benefit, including in better landscaping and widening of adjacent roads.

“We are optimistic that the local council will follow suit by upgrading neighbouring facilities as we will be replacing some rundown buildings with Kenanga Wholesale City.”

With more than 1,800 car parks and loading docks for lorries in the complex, the project would also ease the parking problem in Jalan Kenanga, Yee said, adding that traffic flow in the area should also improve.

To encourage the right tenants to establish business in Central Market, the company has maintained rental rates at between RM15 and RM40 per sq ft. “The rates will be up for review when the time is right,” Bong said.

His decision to expand in the retail real estate sector is largely due to Central Market's immense success.

Expressing his satisfaction in the company's investment, he said Kha Seng was on its way to recoup its capital and turn in profits within the next 18 months.

“There is probably no other centres nationwide that is similar to Central Market, given its one of a kind combination of location, culture, history and shopping.

“However, as a retail-focused company, we will consider investing in other potential projects if the right opportunity comes along,” Bong said.

On plans to expand the Central Market, he said Kha Seng had submitted plans for development of the riverside into a historical walk and alfresco dining outlets, while the Jalan Kasturi pedestrian area would be converted into a covered mall with decorated kiosks and for street performances.

“Once the finer details are ironed out, we will start work on the next phase of upgrading,” Bong added.

On future projects, he said Kha Seng had paid RM78mil to purchase the UE3 shopping centre in Cheras from the project’s receiver. The building was formerly own by the MBf group.

Bong said the company would spend RM100mil to refurbish and reposition the shopping complex into a lifestyle mall with specialty stores for the middle-income market.

The refurbished complex, with net lettable space of 600,000 sq ft, will be opened in the first half of 2009.

A 360-room business class hotel will also be constructed on the adjoining land.

Meanwhile, the Kenanga Wholesale City along Jalan Kenanga, off Loke Yew, will be an integrated commercial complex for fashion apparel wholesale and retail trade.

Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd bought a 3.1-acre plot from Tenaga Nasional Bhd in the middle of 2007 and the RM1bil project is schedule for completion early 2010.

Bong, also managing director of Kenanga Wholesale City, is looking at building similar concept projects for other wholesale businesses in the surrounding area or in other parts of Kuala Lumpur.

On Kha Seng's earlier plans for the redevelopment of the Klang bus station, he said it had been replaced with another retail project on a nearby land. “We are in negotiation with the landowner,” he said. cool!

PRIVATELY-held Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd is spending RM300 million to build a 1.8 million sq ft fashion wholesale mall at Jalan Kenanga near Pudu Jail. When completed three years from now, the 22-storey development will help ease congestion at the busy Kenanga area, where garment wholesalers have been operating from multi-level shoplots since the 1990s. Kenanga Wholesale City chief executive officer Yee Ia Howe said the 790 units are between 300 and 600 sq ft, selling at RM1,980 to RM3,300 per sq ft. Demand is so great that the mall is already 70 per cent sold before yesterday's soft launch, and some buyers were foreign garment makers. "This shows the great potential in the domestic garment wholesale industry," he said when launching the showroom in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

He said the management will work with Malaysia Garments Wholesale Merchants Association to help wholesalers and garment manufacturers in opening regional markets like Indonesia, Brunei, southern Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said there are more than 200 fashion manufacturers in Malaysia, mostly small and medium-sized operators.

"By themselves they don't have the infrastructure to help them compete in the global market. We need a centre where purchasers can come and pick up eveything from clothes to accessories and go," said Ng, who officiated the event. She said although the wholesale mall is a new concept in Malaysia, it is a proven success in Chinese cities like Shenzhen, Shenyang and Shanghai.

"It may not be easy to start this for Malaysia's small population. But Kenanga should also target foreign tourists, which currently spend only a quarter of their expenditure here on shopping," she said.

KUALA LUMPUR: A RM300 million one-stop garment wholesale centre is under construction along Jalan Kenanga in the city centre to house garment traders under one roof.

The Kenanga Wholesale City would be developed by Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd (KWC) and completed in three years, said KWC group chief executive officer Yee Ia Howe.

Yee said the 22-storey building would have a gross built-up area of 1.8 million square feet (sq ft), net lettable area of 500,000 sq ft, and 1,800 parking lots.

The centre will have 790 new business lots and the size of the lots would be between 300 sq ft and 600 sq ft. The price of per sq ft ranges from RM1,980 to RM3,300.

“To date, we have achieved 70% in sales, with the first and second floors sold out. This shows the wholesale business has great potential,” he said after the soft launch of Kenanga Wholesale City here yesterday.

Yee said the centre would provide more business opportunities for everyone. Currently, the traders are unable to expand their business due to the lack of space.

The development cost of RM300 million excluded cost of the land bought from Tenaga Nasional Bhd. He declined to state the land acquisition price.

KWC is a sister company of Central Market Venture Sdn Bhd, which is the developer of Plaza Ue3 at Jalan Loke Yew.

The management company of Kenanga Wholesale City would work with the Malaysia Garments Wholesale Export and Import Merchants Association to help wholesalers explore export opportunities in other Asian countries.

Deputy Finance Minister I Datuk Ng Yen Yen, who officiated at the event, said service-based economy accounted for 57% of the country’s gross domestic product, and the government was targeting to increase it to 75%.

The country’s textile and garment industry was forecast to attract RM900 million in investments per year between 2007 and 2020 and garment exports targeted to grow to RM24 billion in 2020.

To encourage the right tenants to establish business in Central Market, the company has maintained rental rates at between RM15 and RM40 per sq ft. “The rates will be up for review when the time is right,” Bong said.

His decision to expand in the retail real estate sector is largely due to Central Market's immense success.

Expressing his satisfaction in the company's investment, he said Kha Seng was on its way to recoup its capital and turn in profits within the next 18 months.

“There is probably no other centres nationwide that is similar to Central Market, given its one of a kind combination of location, culture, history and shopping.

“However, as a retail-focused company, we will consider investing in other potential projects if the right opportunity comes along,” Bong said.

On plans to expand the Central Market, he said Kha Seng had submitted plans for development of the riverside into a historical walk and alfresco dining outlets, while the Jalan Kasturi pedestrian area would be converted into a covered mall with decorated kiosks and for street performances.

“Once the finer details are ironed out, we will start work on the next phase of upgrading,” Bong added.

On future projects, he said Kha Seng had paid RM78mil to purchase the UE3 shopping centre in Cheras from the project’s receiver. The building was formerly own by the MBf group.

Bong said the company would spend RM100mil to refurbish and reposition the shopping complex into a lifestyle mall with specialty stores for the middle-income market.

The refurbished complex, with net lettable space of 600,000 sq ft, will be opened in the first half of 2009.

A 360-room business class hotel will also be constructed on the adjoining land.

Meanwhile, the Kenanga Wholesale City along Jalan Kenanga, off Loke Yew, will be an integrated commercial complex for fashion apparel wholesale and retail trade.

Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd bought a 3.1-acre plot from Tenaga Nasional Bhd in the middle of 2007 and the RM1bil project is schedule for completion early 2010.

Bong, also managing director of Kenanga Wholesale City, is looking at building similar concept projects for other wholesale businesses in the surrounding area or in other parts of Kuala Lumpur.

On Kha Seng's earlier plans for the redevelopment of the Klang bus station, he said it had been replaced with another retail project on a nearby land. “We are in negotiation with the landowner,” he said. cool!

i'm the most happy person hearing this news!!...but with some additional suggestion; convert the car parking in front of the central market into public square!

but make sure they use a better materials than those fugly Petaling Street roofing (done by DBKL) which is damn lousy and cheapo!

good idea about the public space, but that area needs car parks, maybe an underground carpark below the public square, this can then transform this old part of KL to a more lively area. But I foresee a problem that the open area may then attract vagrants and other lost souls

good idea about the public space, but that area needs car parks, maybe an underground carpark below the public square, this can then transform this old part of KL to a more lively area. But I foresee a problem that the open area may then attract vagrants and other lost souls

underground carpark is a bit risky, remember.....klang river is just a couple metres away

about the vagrants and 'lost soul'...emm...damn, where the hell these peoples came from? but judging from other public space around KL (dataran merdeka, KLCC park, lake garden)..i rarely see them lah...

This is Kenanga, close up, the view towards the f/b area where most of the public will come into contact with the building. We hope the immaculately detailed blockwork facade can also be experienced from within the project, casting elaborate shadows and light into what would be over 1 million sqft of unique wholesale retail development with elevated car park for over 2000 in the final phase.

This project is interesting for its unusual and most historic location, famously known for many many years as a place where all of the main textile merchants of Kuala Lumpur would come to trade their wares, but also for its most unusual scale, a structure that is almost virtually 23 stories tall, over 1 million square feet of gross area, for which at least half are retail lots. Almost everything traded in these stores are textile based products, jewellery stores and small items catering for the local fashion entrepreneurs. Similar centres exists elsewhere in the region, but this would be Kuala Lumpur's first.

Kenanga Wholesale City is also a building which is to be constructed from natural materials, and fair faced concrete. On most al of the facades, the 400x200mm blocks are arranged in a facade that is left exposed apart from a coat of paint to keep the face clean and without blemish. This very natural approach will be used throughout the entire building including also the interiors which will comprise natural steel framed courts and bridges in the upper floors. The only finished parts relate to circulation elements, as escalators and lifts and some of the very generous skylights and glass canopies. These are finished in great contrast to the more rustic and gutsy materials used for the walls and floors.

The building is easily very iconic. It has a facade design that is completely extraordinary because of the scale for which blockwork is used to line the elevations of at least two of the facades, in some respects they appear as skin or indeed fabric for this enormous building. The glazed and openable window elements of the facade has been made more attractive by arranging them the most irregular graphic fashion. The 5 levels of elevated car park is accessed through a series of very long concrete ramps, these are lit brightly through the sides of open faced naturally ventilated blockwork. Further up, the Kenanga Wholesale building are three levels of courtyard accommodation, retail units that are meant for recreational, food and exhibition purposes. With the vast amounts of daylight on these levels, and with potential to attract retailers worldwide, this building may indeed become the new Wholesale centre for the region, given its very prime location and its proximity to the city centre of Kuala Lumpur.

With its well-ordered structure and comprehensive facilities, Kenanga Wholesale City looks set to revolutionise the fashion wholesale industry – and match it with eye-catching investment returns.

“Former downmarket ‘black area’ fetches million-ringgit prices” – it sounds like the stuff of movies. Indeed, the history of the Kenanga area is the envy of many mid- to low-end segments that started off just like it. Threatened with becoming a victim of its own success, however, this South East Asian fashion wholesale hub is undergoing a makeover.

The saviour is Kenanga Wholesale City, a well-ordered RM880 million, 22-storey complex off Jalan Loke Yew. Positioning itself as a one-stop centre, Malaysia’s first wholesale mall brings together an exciting mix of merchandise, including garments, accessories, shoes, gifts, stationery and other lifestyle products. With its GUARANTEED 8% NETT annual rate of return for the first three years, 80% of the freehold lots have already been snapped up.

Skyrocketing value

It wasn’t always this way. In the 1970s, a four-storey shoplot block went for RM190,000, with ground-floor rental from RM700 to RM800. The 1980s saw prices doubling to RM400,000 and ground-floor rental ranging from RM1,000 to RM1,500. With the fashion wholesale industry emerging in the early 1990s, prices soared to RM1 million per block, with ground-floor rental ranging from RM15,000 to RM20,000.

With its well-developed fashion wholesale niche, Kenanga’s ground-floor shoplots today fetch rentals of RM25,000. A whole block fetches a cool sale price of RM3.5 million – if you can even find one for sale. Success has its hiccups however – the area faces perennial traffic jams due to insufficient carparks and loading/unloading bays.

Knight in well-accessorised armour

Kenanga Wholesale City comes as a boon, adding about 800 retail lots sized between 192 sq ft and 1,997sq ft, and priced from RM390,000 to RM5 million. Scheduled for completion by end 2010, it offers a gross built-up area of 1.8 million sq ft and a net lettable area of 500,000 sq ft, on a 3.2-acre site.

The Kenanga area now hosts 350-odd fashion wholesale operators who transact about RM2 billion of business annually, 30% for export and 70% for the local market. However, the developer believes that its tenants will double their transactions within a year once Kenanga Wholesale City takes off.

To achieve this, the management is working with the Malaysia Garments Wholesale Merchants Association on overseas promotion efforts, targeting Singapore, South Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Brunei and the Middle East.

Although the wholesale mall concept is new in Malaysia, it has proven successful in hubs like Pratunam Market in Bangkok, Dongdaemun in Korea, Mangga Dua in Jakarta as well as Shenzhen, Shenyang and Shanghai in China.

Hallmark of style and culture

Developer Kenanga Wholesale City Sdn Bhd is a member of an expanding group of companies which includes Daratan Asli Development Sdn Bhd, Central Market Sdn Bhd, Kha Seng Corporation Sdn Bhd and Kha Seng Textiles Sdn Bhd. Its projects include the turnaround of Central Market, which received the 2007 SME Brand Laureate Award in Corporate Branding, and an integrated commercial development along Jalan Loke Yew that includes a shopping mall, high-rise office blocks and a business-class hotel.

Guaranteed returns

Aside from new investors and business operators who previously lacked retail space, Kenanga Wholesale City is also targeted at business owners going global. With 80% to 90% financing, an average monthly instalment of RM5,000 gives you a comfortable, business-friendly environment – an inviting prospect for small/medium-size enterprises.

With the intense demand, interested purchasers should call now to take up the developer’s attractive leaseback option, GUARANTEEING an 8% nett annual rate of return for the first three years with an option to extend for another two years.

He said the new development will create job opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship.

"Many of the existing businesses along Jalan Kenanga will take their garment business to the next level and move to this complex. The complex isn't built to compete with the existing shops but to meet the current demands. The complex is to cater more for the business community than end users. Cities like Dubai, Jakarta and Bangkok have their own textile hubs and we will soon have our own," said Saravanan.

He said by 2012, all roads will be upgraded in Kuala Lumpur, which will hopefully ease traffic congestion in the city.

Yee Ia Howe, group chief executive officer of Kenanga Wholesale, said Malaysia was full of shopping malls that cater to the end consumers, but was lacking in wholesalers.

Although the wholesale mall concept is new in Malaysia, it has been proven successful in Asian cities. Examples are Platinum Fashion Mall in Bangkok, Dongdaemun in Korea and Mangga Dua in Jakarta.